This invention relates generally to gymnastic exercising apparatus and is particularly directed to a portable and collapsible free standing horizontal bar apparatus, some of the components of which can be reassembled into a door-stabilized, floor-supported version.
A basic gymnastic device is a horizontal bar. This is widely used in homes, schools and institutions because of the benefits of chinning exercises, as well as a variety of other more advanced forms of exercise which can be performed by many people, both men, women, adults, children and even individuals who are partially handicapped.
In most places, whether they be a home, office or a well equipped gymnasium, a horizontal bar exercising apparatus should be sufficiently portable that it can be moved indoors and outdoors from place to place as needed, and it should be collapsible or dismantleable so it can be stored when not in use.
Such horizontal bar exercising apparatus presently available for gymnasiums is quite heavy and expensive. If it is free standing and light enough to be portable, the versions available today are likely to be tipped or displaced across the floor by swinging and chinning exercises, particularly by heavy individuals. The versions which are available for home and office use are mostly bars which are fastened into or over doorways by means of rubber friction pads, or by bolts, screws, or teeth which can mar the door or door frame in one way or another.
Further, these are always subject to dangerous loosening or improper installing and are limited in weight capacity, some not even being recommended for individuals weighing over 200 pounds. A user can be severly injured by a fall if one loosens while he is using it. They are limited in height, rarely being over seven feet high, and where used inside a doorway the usable height is limited by the upper sill.